Liam Delap seals second Manchester City loan move of the season

Manchester City academy striker Liam Delap has been sent on his second loan spell of the 2022/23 season, having been recalled from an underwhelming time with Stoke City.

The 19-year-old endured a challenging first-half of the 2022/23 season with the Potters, scoring just three goals.

The England under-20 international now arrives at Deepdale with not only with vast experience of training regularly with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City first team, but also having registered the Premier League giants in the Champions League and English top-flight.

Speaking upon joining the Lancashire club, Delap said, “I’m buzzing. It’s such a great club and I’m really excited to meet the boys and play in front of the fans. I’ve spoken to the manager and I’m really happy with what he’s got to say and the style of football he plays, so I can’t wait to get playing under him.

“As a striker at the end of the day, the manager wants goals so that’s what he’s said to me. I trust myself in front of goal. I trust myself to get in the right positions so if I get the opportunity then hopefully I can bring that.”

Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe also offered his immediate reaction to the deal, as he said, “Liam was one we targeted in the summer because of the work he’d done with City’s U23s and he had some input in the first team with a couple of goals, too.”

“With him being called back now we felt it was important to make our move, and I’m really pleased we’ve got it over the line. He’s a good lad, a good footballer and a goalscorer. He just needs an opportunity to score goals and hopefully we can give him that.”

He continued, “Obviously we’re going to be without Emil [Riis] for a long period now too, so we felt we needed to bring an extra body into the building to continue the form we’ve had.”

Everyone at City Xtra wishes Liam the very best of luck during the second-half of the season!